Council's refusal of plans for Deansgrange crossroads to be appealed to Bord Pleanβla

D·n Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's decision to refuse planning permission for the redevelopment of the Bank of Ireland site at Deansgrange crossroads has been appealed to An Bord Pleanβla.

The appeal is being seen by some members of the planning authority as a test case in ongoing tensions between the planning authority and the Bord.

Earlier this year, the council decided against granting permission for the redevelopment of the low rise, largely open-space site for a two and three-storey mixed-use building.

However the members are acutely aware that An Bord Pleanβla, having regard to the Strategic Planning Guidelines, may decide that the current low rise centre is a poor use of land, located as it is on good transport links.

Envisaged in the plan lodged in the names of John Lally and Bernard Duffy, is the demolition of the existing bank and its replacement with two buildings of two and three storeys.

Involved is 1,249 sq m of retail floor space; 2,653 sq m of office space and 377 sq m for the bank. The bank is to be relocated during construction to a temporary structure of 260 sq m for two years. Provision is also being made for underground parking with access off Clonkeen Road.

The application, when it came before the council, attracted strong opposition, with the current Cathaoir-leach and Fianna Fβil leader on D·n Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Ms Betty Coffey criticising it as "overdevelopment" which would damage the character of the area.

The Deansgrange area is also facing further development at the Deansgrange Business Park and Councillor Coffey insists that the scale of the development would mean the loss of the distinctive "village-like" character of the area. She also took issue with a traffic impact study which the developers submitted with the application saying "I travel through this area and I am not at all impressed with the study. There are regular traffic jams at this junction."

The councillor also said that the "scale and height of these proposals would change the character of the area to the detriment of local residents and would place an intolerable burden on the locality in terms of traffic, pedestrian safety and parking." Such a planning application, should it be granted, would have serious consequences for other "villages" such as Baker's Corner, and Sallynoggin in the immediate area, she added.

The application also drew opposition from the Fine Gael group on the council. Councillor Eoin Costello said "the destruction of Deansgrange as an urban village is assured" if the application is given the go ahead."

Local residents also voiced their opposition to the provision of a library in the new facility, pointing out that there was already a library across the road. They fear the inclusion of a library would lead to the redevelopment of the current library site.

The developers, however, will be hoping that An Bord Pleanβla feels bound by its need to have regard to regional and national planning policy, which is to increase densities along transport corridors and get the best use from land.

Many leading academics have pointed out that Dublin's suburbs are too low rise and represent urban sprawl. They argue that other European cities contain a population some eight times higher than Dublin's on similar "footprints".

Neighbourhood centres are easier to serve when they are concentrated along public transport lines where the existing infrastructure is already in place. Should they continue to be developed outside the city, in Dublin's case along the M50, they would draw the commercial centres out of the city and suburbs, leading to urban neglect.

One councillor said the outcome of this case would have "severe implication for the local authority's ability to control planning and development in its area. We will be watching this one with interest".